Bill Clinton jokes about possible French, Irish presidency run on Piers Morgan’s show

In a wide-ranging interview Tuesday with CNN’s Piers Morgan Bill Clinton joked that he could in theory run for the presidency in France or Ireland after being asked if he would ever consider running for prime minister of the United Kingdom.

The former U.S. president said he could stand in Ireland because of his Irish heritage, but he would have to buy a house there. He could also run in France because he was born in Arkansas, which was originally part of the Louisiana Purchase.

By:Debra BlackStaff Reporter, Published on Thu Sep 27 2012

In a wide-ranging interview Tuesday with CNN’s Piers Morgan Bill Clinton joked that he could in theory run for the presidency in France or Ireland after being asked if he would ever consider running for prime minister of the United Kingdom.

Clinton laughed at Morgan’s suggestion that he run as prime minister of the United Kingdom and then went on to discuss under what circumstances he could run for the presidency in Ireland and France, according to a CNN transcript of the interview.

The former U.S. president said he could stand in Ireland because of his Irish heritage, but he would have to buy a house there. He could also run in France because he was born in Arkansas, which was originally part of the Louisiana Purchase, originally part of the French Empire.

The only conditions for him to run in France would be a six-months residency and fluency in French.

“I once polled very well in a French presidential race,” he told Morgan. “And I said, you know this is great, but that’s the best I’d ever do because once they heard my broken French with a Southern accent, I would drop into single digits within a week and I’d be toast.”

Clinton was the 42nd U.S. president, serving from 1993 until 2001. He was impeached by the House of Representatives in 1998 after a scandal involving his sexual dalliances with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

He was tried in the U.S. Senate and found not guilty, eventually apologizing to the nation, according to his White House biography.

The comments came during a discussion between the two on the U.S. presidential election . Morgan also asked Clinton for his thoughts on the Clinton Global Initiative, the American economy and Iran’s President Mamoud Ahmadinejad.

Morgan questioned Clinton on the validity of the 22nd Amendment which limits the length of time a politician could be president to two terms. It was a “shame” Clinton couldn’t run again and “be president for the next 30 years,” he said.

Clinton told Morgan that “it’s a hard job being president.” And that the amendment passed at the end of the Roosevelt era, shortly after Roosevelt’s death after he had elected to a fourth term.

“He died shortly after being elected to a fourth term and people didn’t really know a full measure of his health challenges. I still think there is an argument for saying that eight years, certainly eight years in a row, is enough,” Clinton said. .

“You don’t want this — you don’t want to run the risk of sclerosis in a democratic society. You want to keep the blood running. You don’t want to get the idea that any country, particularly not one this big and diverse and important as ours, is dependent on any one person.”

Clinton added that many of the dictators who have been deposed of in recent years — and even some just hanging on — were young, idealistic and incredibly capable at one time but “they just kind of outstayed their welcome.”

On balance, he said that the U.S. system limiting the length of a presidential term is better than having no limits whatsoever.

Saying he loved his life now, Clinton hypothesized that perhaps one day the rules around the presidency will change. And future politicians could “serve two years and lay out — serve two terms and lay out a term or two.”

With everyone living longer and staying healthier, serving for more than two terms might be a possibility, he said. But “it shouldn’t affect me or anybody who has been president.”

Clinton said he could have done another term, “but I thought Al Gore was going to win and I wanted him to win.

“I thought he would have been a good president. And I still think so. And the thing that’s kept America going is that we’ve trusted the people over the leaders.”